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Letter to Bennet

I know that you are a very busy man, but I hope that you will find it in your heart to read this letter and try to help us.

The struggle to find sufficient jobs and survive in the present economy is not limited to just one area. No, my dear Bennet, I have seen it. The suffering extends from Quebec all the way to the western coast of British Columbia. That is where I started my travels, BC. I had to leave that depressed province after my experience in relief camps. People in those camps treat you like slaves. They force people to work about six days per week and they only pay them twenty cents. That is not enough money for anyone to live on, so I decided to quit and try to find work elsewhere. I know that you probably think that BC must be doing better because of the recent election and Dufferin Patullo’s new ideas in regards to shortening the work day and increasing minimum wage, but things are still in bad conditions. Because of this I decided to join the Trek to Ottawa. You see, I wanted to speak to you. To explain why it is so important for you to help us. Along the way I witness so much suffering.

In Alberta people are pushing for a provincial government that will help them receive more money to pay for their basic needs and in Saskatchewan people are in desperate need of a new provincial government as well. The prairies seem to be hit a lot harder than other places I have seen. They are suffering from severe droughts which is causing their crops to suffer and they are in desperate need of irrigation. As we moved through the prairies more and more people joined us. Many of them from people who had no way of income. They spend most of their times in lines waiting for pogey hoping that they could receive relief, or waiting in endless lines outside soup kitchens. The closer we got to Ontario the more worried you became so you sent your RCMP to stop us and only allowed our leaders to go to Ontario. Unfortunately, I am not a leader so I was forced to stay behind. I was determined to talk to you in person, so I snuck aboard a train and rode my way to Ontario. I was surprised when I got there. People are suffering just as much here as they are in BC. The working class here need help as do the people in Quebec. I know that the people in Quebec blame the English speaking part of Canada for their problems and they are becoming more separated from the rest of Canada in terms of their belief in French nationalism, but they are still part of Canada and you are still responsible for them.

Let me ask you something. Have you ever seen a dead body? I have. I got to witness someone launching themselves out a window one Friday evening. This is how desperate people are so I am begging you to open your eyes and help us. Help us get jobs. Help us be able to support our families. Help us live our lives like we did no more than a decade ago.

Please Mr. Bennet. Please, provide this country with the support we all desperately need.